What Would Nature Do?

Issue
64Winter2013

Industrial societies have spent several centuries trying to conquer nature. Instead, we’ve produced mass extinctions, climate change, and pollution. What’s a better way for humans to live on Earth? Nature is telling us, if only we would listen.

Can a boat be designed to clean the water? How does a spider manufacture resilient fiber? We need products that don’t harm us or the environment, and nature’s already done the research.Sven EberleinNov 19, 2012

Can a boat be designed to clean the water? How does a spider manufacture resilient fiber? We need products that don’t harm us or the environment, and nature’s already done the research.Sven EberleinNov 19, 2012

Today, at a time of multiple crises, we need to move away from thinking of nature as dead matter to valuing her biodiversity, clean water, and seeds. For this, nature herself is the best teacher.Vandana ShivaDec 05, 2012

Climate change is already increasing the likelihood of weather extremes—like the droughts and heat waves like we’ve seen in recent years—according to a new report by one of NASA’s top climate scientists.

A California proposal would offset the state’s climate-altering emissions by paying for forest conservation in Chiapas. Could there be unintended consequences in a region with a history of human rights abuse and land grabs?

Oil companies—and many of our political leaders—see melting sea ice as an opportunity to drill deeper. Fortunately, you don’t have to occupy an Arctic drilling platform to join the growing movement of people who are putting themselves on the line for our planet’s future.

Book Review: Gleaned from letters, essays, and articles, “Pete Seeger: In His Own Words” reveals how the celebrated folk singer has considered, at every turn, what it means to sing out in a world where the din of injustice is deafening.